1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a basketball hoop and net assembly suitable for playing basketball, netball or similar games.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventional basketball hoop assemblies often include a hoop or ring having a plurality of hooks or holders attached to an underside or undersurface of the hoop or ring through which a plurality of net loops supporting a net are attached wherein each net loop is passed through an adjacent hook or holder. In another arrangement the hoop or ring included a plurality of apertures through which each net loop is passed.
Basketball hoop assemblies of the type described above are referenced in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,524,883, 4,071,238, 5,792,010, 6,746,349, 5,951,416, 5,795,253, 5,447,304, 6,312,350, 6,595,879, 7,396,302 and EP 0692282.
In relation to the provision of holders or hooks attached to the basketball hoop these are generally made of wire and have a horizontal part welded to the underside of the hoop and thus are very susceptible to breaking off from the hoop with repeated ball contact. Also the net frequently becomes tangled with these holders or hooks and another problem with these holders or hooks is that they have straight parts which are often sharp and are thus capable of causing injury. Another problem is that manufacturing of a hoop with attached net holders or hooks are not appropriate for mass manufacture. These problems also had relevance to the use of apertures in the hoop or ring.
In another conventional arrangement, there may be provided a hoop or ring assembly having a top ring and a bottom ring wherein the bottom ring has a number of valleys and curved horizontal portions between each valley and wherein each curved horizontal portion is welded or attached to the top ring and a plurality of net loops supporting a net are attached to each valley.
In regard to the provision of the bottom ring as described above, it was often the case that the net was caused to break away from the hoop after repeated ball contact or frequent use because each of the net loops was only supported by a plurality of spaced locations.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,353,548 relates to a top cord supporting a basketball net having net loops passed over the top cord wherein the top cord and each net loop is received within an aperture of a connector member welded to a net connector ring which is welded to a basketball hoop. However this arrangement was considered to be complicated in construction.
Another conventional method of attachment of a basketball net to a hoop was to attach or weld a plurality of curved tube segments to an underside of the hoop with a small gap between adjacent segments. A cord is then passed through each of the tube segments and net loops of a net are attached to the cord in the gaps between each segment. Each end of the cord was then connected by a knot. However problems with this arrangement were that it was difficult to get sufficient tension on the cord to limit the sag of the net upon repeated downward pull of the net. Also, with repeated downward pull of the net the cord became abraded against the edge of each tube segment. Also, each tube had sharp edges capable of causing injury.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a basketball hoop and net assembly which may alleviate the problems of the prior art discussed above.